For National Pretzel Day on April 25, the Chronicle published this story about Wendell, a fifth-generation baker, and his pretzels. The twisty, chewy treats are popping up at restaurants around town and will be on the menu Sunday at Sengelmann Hall in Schulenburg.

One person who read the story was Brock Wagner, the head of Saint Arnold Brewing Co. The proverbial light bulb went off when, Wagner says, it occurred to him, “Wow, that’s exactly what I’ve wanted.”

The two men talked, and Wendell is bringing him 150 pretzels for Saturday’s tour. Wagner, whose Saturday tours are drawing crowds of about 600 people, will offer them for sale over by the T-shirts and other souvenirs.

Price: $3 apiece, tax included, or $16 for half a dozen.

I could easily see them selling out. If that happens, look for Saint Arnold to order even bigger batches in the future. Wagner says he’s also intrigued by a friend of Wendell’s who is said to make a spicy mustard using Elissa IPA in the recipe.

The Chronicle story got other people talking as well. Wendell says he received 179 phone calls inquiring about the pretzels the day the story ran. The next day, he was featured on a local radio station. And the inquiries keep coming.

As the writer of that story, I got an interesting reaction from several of my colleagues. There seemed to be a mini-epidemic of pretzel-craving at 801 Texas Ave. And I admit that when I saw the Slow Dough pretzels for sale at BRC a couple of nights later, I couldn’t resist buying one. It was warm and salty, a perfect complement to a sweetish Devil’s Backbone.

I asked Wagner why he thinks beer and pretzels make such a great combo. He speculated the salt was part of the reason. And then, bread is made from wheat, a grain related to barley. But he couldn’t say definitively.

“I don’t know what it is that makes beer go so well with pretzels,” he said. “But it sure does.”

Why don’t you try some from Patty’s Pretzel Plus up on highway 249 / 149 near Magnolia. His are tons better, and has a wide variety to choose from. Better than this guy and better priced. Look them up on the web. A true soft pretzel is paper-clip shaped, not this 3-ring stuff. This is more like Superpretzel junk and way over-priced. Three dollers each? For 6 bucks, you get 13 large ones at Pattys!! I would ask the writer of this story to expand his love affair with this guy, and try some other more-worthy pretzels made the right way, instead of some boutique way.